Whenever I am chatting with brides, I often get questions whenever it comes to their detail images. If you’re a bride, you probably know what detail images are because you’re fully immersed in all things wedding day BUT if you’re not a bride, detail pictures are essentially the invitation suite, accessories, florals, etc all captured as part of the wedding coverage on the wedding day.

These are important to capture for so many reasons. First, these images capture the couple’s personality. They’ve likely debated and searched for each item for months. These are most often thought about and mulled over for a very long time – all to be presented to guests at the most expensive party this couple will throw.

Second…details are expensive and sometimes even priceless. From the rings to the shoes to the bouquet – all of these cost money and a lot of it, if we’re honest. Sometimes, however, you can’t monetarily put a price tag on the items because they are family heirlooms. I’ve photographed lots of family heirlooms before that mean so much to the bride or groom from a grandmother’s Bible to a mother’s headpiece. I always get so excited when a couple has chosen to incorporate family pieces into their attire or wedding day because I know they tell a great story.

Which leads me to my last reason… details help tell the story of your wedding day. As a wedding photographer, I want to capture and retell the story from your wedding day in the best way possible. I want to capture these images so that couples look back and can remember how things unfolded – from the beginning to end. The detail images help start that story.

So with all of that said, I am going to address 3 FAQs about wedding day detail photographs below:

When are detail images captured?

I build detail images into my timelines and it makes sense to capture these first – upon arrival. The reason being that most of the time, everyone is still getting ready. No one is yet wearing these details, if needed, such as a gown, shoes, jewelry and boutonnieres. There’s also less time to misplace these items throughout the day 🙂 I always ask my couples to give all details to a point person and to have those items ready once I arrive so we can make the most of the time.

Who provides the details?

Most of the details are obviously provided by the couple – such as the gown, invitations and rings but you’ll notice most detail shots have extra little details such as stamps, ribbon, tulle, ring boxes, antique trays – all little things to bring the images to life and to help tell that story. The extra items are provided by me and included in my detail kit. I bring these items with me on the wedding day and spend time arranging everything together.

Who provides the florals?

You’ll see flowers and greenery in lots of detail images. Sometimes this can be from the bouquet or boutonniere but I always LOVE whenever I have separate flowers I can piece together for some shots…without pulling from a finished flower arrangement. SO I usually ask my couple to have their florist leave any extra stems at the venue so those can be used as well. Florists usually don’t have an issue with this because they can have lots of leftover flowers once they are finished with the arrangements!

I hope this helps answer some questions you may personally have but if you have any additional questions about wedding packages and how I build this into the timeline, reach out to me at laura@annielauraphoto.com!

The below images were taken with sample invitation suites provided by Kelsey Malie Calligraphy and Elle Bee Design – not from actual wedding day coverage.